Rudder



July 8 1924.

1,500,584 B. e. HARLEY RUDDER Filed April 14, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l Invenf r AFF Qf July 8 192%. 1,500,584

B. G. HARLEY RUDDEB Filed April 14, 1925 2 SheeLs-Sheet a Aiiarrvey Patented July 8, 1924.

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Bnamon e. HARLEY, or ARKENDALE; VIRGINIA.

RUDDER.

Application filed April 14, 1923-.

I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERTRON G. HARLEY, a citizen of the United States, residingat Arkendale, Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rudders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rudders and like devices for steering, or otherwise directing the movements of, a ship in its course and, in general, provides novel means for effect ing better and more efficient control of the ships movements, not only with respect to steering but as regards, also, the reversing, slowing down, and the steadying of the ship.

The principal and particular object of the invention is to provide a combined unitary rudder-and-deflector which will operate to guide the vessel to which it is attached directionally and to control the forward and backward motion of the vessel. To that end, the invention consists in a combination unitary rudder applicable to vessels, old as well as new, by having the new rudder attached thereto without changing the existing construction of the vessel.

The invention, then, consists essentially of a usual vertically pivoted rudder which carries mounted thereon a horizontal deflecting plane or supplemental rudder, with means for pivotally moving or adjusting the supplemental rudder irrespective of the adjusted position of the vertical rudder. However, the operation of the structure gives such novel and advantageous results that I consider it is the results obtained that is the important part of my invention rather than the specific means by which theyfare brought about. So, in interpreting the scope of my claims, and in considering what are equivalents it is to be'understood that the invention contemplates any are rangement of elements which will produce the results hereinafter enumerated, so long as it embodies a rudder of the combined,

unitary, type.

Among the said results referred to are: Backing the boat without reversing the propeller; moving the stern of the boat laterally; braking the boat to bring it to rest quickly; to prevent squatting at the stern, and to ease the boat in a sea+way.

Other objects and results of the invention will appear from the following description, read in connection with the accompanying Serial No. 632,028.

drawings illustrating an embodiment of the invention and in which:

Figure 1 is a view of the invention, in side elevation, as applied to the stern of a boat.

Figure 2 is a bottom view thereof.

Figure 3 is a sectional detail view, illustrating the relative arrangement of the rudder elements.

Figure 4 is a detail view, in top plan, of the rudder and tiller connection.

Figure 5 is a view in end elevation of a slightly modified deflector element, the same being curved rather than a plane and substantially concavo-convex.

iFigure 6 is a sectional view on the center line of Fig. 8.

Figure 7 is a bottom view of the boats stern, showing the rudder and deflector positioned for reverse drive.

Figure 8 is a similar view parts positioned for effecting and Figure 9 is a similar view, showing the parts positioned for effecting a starboard turn.

'In the accompanying drawing, the vessel in which my invention is incorporated is a boat, indicated generally by reference character 10, is represented as having the usual overhanging stern 1'1, propeller 12, and the rudder brace 13 which receives the pintle of the ordinary rudder for which the present invention is substituted. This brace, as will later be seen, is utilized in a similar capacity for the rudder of the invention. H

In the invention, the rudder consists of two main parts or blades 14 and 15. Part 14c corresponds, in practice, to the ordinary and well known type of vertically pivoted rudder blade used in steering boats, and is intended to be substituted for the latter, occupying in operative position the space between the rudder brace13 and the overhanging stern 11, as clearly shown in Figure 1. The rudder pintle 16 which engages in step bearing 17 of the rudder brace may be a part of or a separate piece secured to the blade at the lower end thereof. Secured to the blade at its upper portion is the end 18 of the rudder post, the same comprising a hollow tubular body 19 extendinglu'p wardly through the stern of the boat and having a bearing in the fixed bearing sleeve showing the a port turn,

20. Beyond the sleeve, the post has an inte V to and on opposite sides of the gral lateral extension including lugs 21 be tween which is fulcrumed the tiller 22 which is mounted to turn on a horizontal bearingpin 23. From this arrangement it will at once be seen that the shifting of the rudder laterally for steering the boat to either side is readily accomplished by movement of the tiller in the customary manner. Moreover, the tiller is capable of up and down movement when rocked on the pin 23 for a purpose presently to appear. 4

Part 15 of the device is substantially circular in configuration and may be either a plane, as in Figures 1 and 2, or curved as shown in Figures 5 and 6. This part constitutes a supplemental rudder or deflector and is provided with a transverse central slot 24 terminating inwardly of opposite edges of the blade to provide an opening of such dimensions as to adequately accommodate therein the rudder blade 11 over which the deflector is arranged as seen in Figure 3 so that both parts are disposed in right angular relation with respect to each other. Integral with the deflector 15 is a transverse bearing or hub 25 extending at right angles slot 24 to receive the rod 26 by means of which the deflector is mounted for limited rotation about a horizontal axis. The axis rod 26 is supported at a central point within the'hub 27 of part l l. Deflector 15, being thus revolubly mounted, may be adjusted to any inclination from the horizontal to the vertical irrespective of the adjusted position of the rudder blade 14:. One or more stops 28 may, if desired, be provided on the deflector for abutment with some suitable part of the supporting structure, as will be understood from the dotted lines ofFigure 1, so as to limit the rotation of the deflector.

The. adjustment of the deflector is effected by movement in an up-and-dowh direction of the tiller 22 to which it is connected by means of suitable links 29 and 30; the said links being relatively pivoted at their adjacent' ends and having their respective opposite ends pivoted to the tiller and to the deflector in the manner illustrated. The tiller thus controls the adjustment ofboth parts of the rudder whether for steering or to regulate the forward, backward or any other motion of the craft.

v The operation of the invention is graphi cally illustrated in the bottom plan views of Figures 7, 8 and 9 to which reference will now be had. Attention is directed, however, to the fact that in Figures 1 and 2 the parts are in what may here be termed their neu' tral position. In other words, thevertical rudder blade 14: is in alignment with the plane of the boats keel for direct steering while the deflector blade 15 is disposed within the horizontal plane of the propeller shaft and offers little or no resistance to the currents set up by the propeller. Such will usually be the disposition of the parts during the forward travel of the boat. To back the boat without reversing the propeller, the tiller is shoved down hard, moving the rotatable deflector 15 in the arc of a circle until it has assumed the vertical position indicated in the dotted line structure of Figure 1. Hence, the currents set up by the propeller 12 will, as indicated by the arrows of Figure 7 squarely impinge the deflector and be thereby deflected back through a course indicated by the said arrows. The impulse imparted to the deflector bythe force of the deflected currents is continuous as long as the propeller is revolving and being counter to the direction in which the boat is traveling will ultimately force the boat backward, thus completely reversing the direction of travel. It has been found, in practice, that when the deflector is thus brought to the vertical position indicated that there is at first a gradual though rapid decrease in the forward speed of the boat until the latter is brought to a quick stop, and then a backward movement at a rapidly increasing ratio of speed. Hence, in its vertical position the deflector acts as a drag for braking the boat, that is, checking or retarding the speed of the same especially when it is desired to bring the boat quickly to rest. This is accomplished by stopping the revolution of the propeller as soon as the forward momentum of the boat has been checked by the positioning of the deflector vertically as above explained.

. With reference to steerlng it will be noted from Figures 8 and 9 that when the rudder V isshifted laterally for turning the boat to either side more of the currents impinge one side of the device than the other. Moreover, the greaternumber of currents, indicated at 31,- impinge the adjacent inclined surfaces of both parts 1 1 and 15 from which they are deflected in alateral direction to the line of. travel. The lesser number of currents, indicated at 32, impinge only the outer portion of the deflector. Hence, the force of the greater number of deflected currents serves to repel the stern in the opposite direction, the said stern, instead of the prow of the boat, being thus moved laterally in the arc of a circle when turning. The stern moves, of course, opposite to the direction of the turn so that when making a port turn, as in Figure 18, the propellergenerated currents are deflected from the port side ofthe stern, causing the latter to swing to thestarboard for pointing the prow of the boat in the desired direction. In like manner, the starboard turn is effected by deflecting the currents from the starboard side of the stern. This method ofsteering by moving the stern, rather than the prow of the boat, laterally offers certain obvious advantages in threading a passage through water traffic, in making short turns, easing the boat into a dock, and in many other ways.

By adjustment of the deflector to an inclination between the horizontal and the vertical, the currents may be readily deflected at an angle suitable for effecting a thrust counter to the sway or rock of the boat, making it possible to ease the latter in a sea-way. Hence, by the adjustment of the deflector to the appropriate angle of inclination, it is likewise possible to prevent squatting at the stern.

From the foregoing it is believed that the novelty and operation of the invention will be readily understood and, further, that the same comprehends all such changes and modifications thereof as come properly within the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. For attachment to a boat, a vertically pivoted main rudder and a horizontally pivoted supplemental rudder carried by said main rudder inoperative when in horizontal position and operative when in vertical position, said supplemental rudder having a substantially concave face presentedto the boat when in vertical position.

2. The device of claim 1 in which the supplemental rudder is disc shaped.

3. In combination in a boat, a propeller, a composite rudder adapted to be acted upon by the water currents forced thereagainst by said propeller comprising a vertically pivoted plane and a horizontally pivoted plane carried by said first mentioned plane inoperative when in horizontal position, and means for adjusting the second said plane to a vertical position transverse to the first said plane irrespective of the position of the first said plane.

4. In combination in a boat, a propeller, a composite rudder adapted to be acted upon by the water currents forced thereagainst by said propeller comprising vertically and horizontally pivoted planes, and means for adjusting the horizontally pivoted plane to reverse the direction of motion of the boat without the reversal of said propeller.

5. The device of claim 4 in which said means include means for adjusting said planes with respect to the .boat and the water currents from said propeller and to each other whereby the stern of the boat may be moved laterally to either side.

6. The device of claim 4 in which said means comprise means for adjusting the said planes with respect to the water currents from said propeller and to each other whereby the stern of the boat may be moved to either side with the bow of the boat as a pivot.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

BERTRON G. HARLEY. 

